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ABSTRACT
Background: COVID-19 is a viral illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 and was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019. It spreads primarily through respiratory droplets and can cause a range of symptoms from mild to severe. Preventive measures such as handwashing, wearing masks, and vaccination have been implemented globally to control its spread and mitigate its impact on public health and societies worldwide. Objectives: This study evaluated the knowledge of COVID-19 among undergraduates of University of Benin, the students’ risk perception of the disease, level of compliance with recommended mitigation measures as well as the factors associated with their compliance with the mitigation measures. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was adopted for this study. A total of six hundred and forty respondents were recruited for this study using a multi-stage sampling technique. A structured self-administered questionnaire via Google forms were used for data collection and these data were coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0. The results are presented in tables, charts and prose. The level of significance was set at p<0.050 and 95% Confidence Interval. Results: The knowledge of COVID-19 and its mitigation measures was good among 212 (35.3%) of the respondents, fair among 304 (50.7%) and poor among 84 (14.0%) of them. No association was found between knowledge and the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents. Five hundred and fifty (91.7%) of the respondents had good risk perception towards COVID-19. Compliance to COVID-19 mitigation measures was found to be poor among 330 (55%) of the respondents and good among 270 (45%) of them. Knowledge of COVID-19 was found to influence compliance with the recommended mitigation measures as respondents with good and fair knowledge were more likely to have good compliance compared to those with poor knowledge. Conclusion: The knowledge of COVID-19 and its mitigation measures among the respondents was mostly fair. They had good perception towards the disease and poor compliance with the mitigation measures. The government should subsidize the prices for materials such as face masks and hand sanitizers, and the University should make provisions for hand washing stations at strategic positions within the University.
